Higgins trip honours New York’s Irish, past and present

President Michael D Higgins adjusted the green, white, and orange ribbons on the wreath and bowed his head.

New York’s 9/11 Memorial was an oasis of calm as the madness of Lower Manhattan seemed to drift away. The presidential delegation fell silent, and all that could be heard was the constant rushing of the waterfalls which flow in to the two footprints left behind by the Twin Towers.

Once the President’s moment of reflection at the so-called Survivor Tree was complete, he shook hands with the police officers standing on either side: Kennedy, Valdes, and Shea.